Why this M&S cauliflower 'steak' has been ridiculed by shoppers

M&S is in the firing line after launching a truly ridiculous product – the £2.50 cauliflower ‘steak’. Keen to capitalise on the modern trend for all things vegan, the supermarket started selling individual slices of cauliflower, designed to be oven cooked as an alternative to your Sunday roast.

But the public were quick to point out how silly this product was, being not only priced at £2.50 (several times the price of an average whole cauliflower) but also wrapped in excessive amounts of plastic – not good timing when plastic consumption is all over the news.

Each M&S pack came with just two slices of the vegetable and a sachet of lemon and herb dressing for £2.50 a pop. It was subsequently reduced to £2 (still double the price of a whole cauliflower at M&S) and has now been stopped altogether after sparking an outcry on Twitter over its wastefulness.

A spokesperson for M&S said: “Once we’ve sold the stock that is currently in stores, we won’t be ordering more of this product. We work hard to create quick and convenient meals for customers; however, on this occasion we didn’t get it right.” That’s for sure!

According to the UK Vegetarian Society, as many as 2,000 of us are turning vegetarian each week, and the Veganuary trend (where people try a vegan diet for January) gains in popularity every year.

The vegan trend has also led to a rise in popularity for products such as courgette and mushroom ‘mince’, which is great for your waistline and health. The downside is that supermarkets have been quick to capitalise on people’s laziness, charging exorbitant prices for products that are simply cut-up vegetables.Personally, we think we’ll be sticking to buying our veggies whole and doing the prep work ourselves.